Test points, including broadband test points, are provided in electrical circuits for use in setting up and troubleshooting cable distribution plants. These electrical circuits (including, but not limited to, radio frequency (RF) amplifiers and optical nodes) may be disposed in an environmental housing. The test points may be accessible from the top of the electrical circuit when the environmental housing is open. However, it may be desirable to access a test point without opening the equipment environmental housing.
In some environmental housings, accessibility to the test points may be provided through one or more apertures in the lid of the housing. The apertures (which may be referred to as test point access ports) may be located proximate to the positions of the test points of the electrical circuit. The access ports may be closed (e.g. with a plug, stopper, etc.) when not in use. During testing, the access port may be opened and a probe may be used to access the test point. However, in many circuits, power supplies and other modules that reside inside the environmental housing lid between the test point and access port may obstruct access to the test points.
One current solution can utilize flexible cable assemblies designed to provide probe access by coupling the flexible cable assembly with the test points and bypassing the obstructions by routing signals from the electrical circuit to access ports located on the sides of the environmental housing lid. While such a solution may provide unobstructed access to a test point, positioning these cable assemblies over the electrical circuits can produce grounding, isolation, and test point response problems during use. In addition, use of these cable assemblies may complicate the installation of the electrical circuits, thus increasing the expense to manufacture and install the units.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies, among others.